Implantable fluid delivery devices are used to treat a number of physiological, psychological, and emotional conditions, including chronic pain, tremor, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, urinary or fecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, obesity, spasticity, or gastroparesis. For some medical conditions, an implantable fluid delivery device provides the best, and in some cases the only, therapy to restore a patient to a more healthful condition.
An implantable fluid delivery device typically provides a patient with a programmable dosage or infusion of a drug or other therapeutic agent. The fluid delivery device typically includes a reservoir, a fill port, a pumping mechanism to pump the therapeutic agent from the reservoir, a catheter port to transport the therapeutic agent from the reservoir to a patient's anatomy, and electronics to control the pumping mechanism. The fluid delivery device also typically includes some form of fluid flow control in order to control or regulate the flow of the fluid therapeutic agent from the reservoir to the fluid delivery device outlet for delivery of the therapeutic agent to a desired location within the patient's body.